The Dixon Family
by ficluver
Summary: Life is rough. Throw in an apocalypse and the dead coming back to life and things get a lot rougher. Daryl and siblings meet up with the group, try to survive, and make a life for themselves.
1. I'll Kill Him

Chapter 1

I'll Kill Him

Things had always been bad.

But recently they had definitely been getting worse. There isn't a day that goes by now that dear old dad isn't drunk off his ass. The beatings that used to leave us bruised are now leaving us bloody and near unconscious. I try to take the brunt of it. My sister, River, might be strong but she's still just a girl. It's gotten to where she won't even talk. Not even to me. She's resorted to looks, pointing, and gestures. It's a good thing we're twins, we've always been able to understand each other.

"Daryl!", I heard my pop shout in a drunken slur from the kitchen, "get in here!"

I got up from my bed in the room I shared with my sister. She stared at me with her too large eyes that didn't quite fit her face, her body slim and rigid with worry for me. Waiting for me to tell her what to do. I raised my hand up slowly, showing her to wait there for me.

I stepped into the kitchen quietly, not making a sound, years of practice trying not to make a sound. I found our dad on the floor of the kitchen nearly passed out with a bottle of whatever liquor he could find handy. The rest of it on the floor slowly pouring out. "What the hell is all that noise I hear outside?!" he half yells, half hiccups at me.

"There's a hurricane coming. Winds picking up." I replied, trying to be heard over the noise.

My answer was never heard as I saw his head fall back to the floor and his eyes roll back in his head. I went back to my room to find my sister standing by our bed with our bags and some provisions already packed up. We had been 'talking' about what we would do for a couple of days now. Ever since we heard about the hurricane coming. We knew our dad would go for the alcohol if he found it in the kitchen. Wouldn't even question how it got there. We knew he wouldn't wonder why all of sudden he started feeling drowsy. Found the pills in our brother, Merle's, old stash. In our small town everyone knew the Dixons. It wasn't unusual for us, a couple of 15 year old kids, going in and buying a bottle now and then for dear old dad. No one looked twice.

People might wonder why we feel no remorse as we grab our things and head down to the cellar and lock the door behind us. Leaving our father passed out on the floor to face a category 4 hurricane. If I cared what people thought I might explain that I came home from my last hunting trip by myself. River wasn't feeling good that morning so I figured leaving a few hours wouldn't hurt none. Seeing as how pops had stayed out all night drinking, and still hadn't come home. We needed food and he sure as hell wasn't going to spend the government's check on us. I would explain that I came running from the edge of the woods in a panic because I heard my sister screaming. She never makes a peep. Not even when pops starts hitting her after he leaves me bloody on the floor. I would say that I found him on top of her with her shirt just below her chest and his hands trying to work their way down her sleep pants. How I knocked him unconscious with the butt of my crossbow. Dragging his overweight ass, off of my little sister. She cried for nearly two days straight, never said a word. I held her, promised her I would never let him touch her again, swore I'd kill him. She looked and me nodded and pointed her delicate finger at me and then to herself. I said, "Yeah, WE'LL kill him." She nodded her head again and laid her head back on my chest. I never break my promises.

The police found what was left of our pops in what was left of our house and an empty cellar. We left as soon as the hurricane did. My sister had the last letter my brother had sent us saying he was thinking of staying on base instead of going on leave. It also had his last known address. We would start there and never look back.

 _Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead! I just play with the characters when they let me :)_


	2. Rage

Chapter 2

Rage

 _5 Years after Chp.1 Merle POV_

It's been awhile since they showed up on my doorstep at the base, telling me pops was dead and they needed me. Little brother won't tell me what happened and little sister don't talk at all. She'll sing for me if I ask though. I couldn't care a less how he died, I'm just glad the bastard's gone.

Glad they found me when they did, I's thinking of heading out on leave after all and wouldn't be back for a couple of months. Don't know what they woulda done if I wasn't there. Now that the dead are walking I couldn't be more grateful that it's been just us. Got the order that my squad and I were to head out and start mandatory evacuations to safe zones and maintain order. Instead I loaded us up in the truck with what we could from the house and ransacked what we could from the base before we took off. There was so much chaos going on that little sister stocked us up but good with water and what food we could get from the mess hall while Daryl and I grabbed weapons, camping gear, and anything else we could get our hands on. Government likes to think they have contingency plans for all kinds of stuff, but nothing could've prepared them for this.

Followed my instincts and we spent the first few weeks in the woods. While scouting the surrounding area we lucked out and stumbled onto a small cabin and decided to stay. It had a cold cellar for food storage, a well, and two streams relatively close to the cabin. It had two bedrooms, but we ended up sleeping in the living room after dragging the mattresses from the other two rooms and used the bedrooms for extra storage.

Kitchen was already stocked with canned food, pots and pans, and a couple of 24 packs of bottled water to add to what we already had. Looked like the previous owner used it as hunting cabin judging by the amount of extra ammo we found stashed in the closet.

We were doing good there too, till I got stupid one night a few weeks after settling in. I had a good stash of pills and cocaine but didn't want to run out too quickly, so I was rationing myself. One day I couldn't take it anymore and I took too much. I exploded. Don't remember all that happened; I remember not being able to find something and then feeling absolute rage that someone touched my stuff.

"RIVER! GET YOUR SCRAWNY ASS OVER HERE, I KNOW YOU TOOK IT!", I yelled, storming into the living room from the cellar.

I saw her scramble up from the floor where she was cleaning her knives and dive into the corner of the room. Daryl jumped up from the couch a second later to stand in front of her. They moved so quick you'd think they'd practiced this move all their lives.

"She didn't take shit from you Merle! She's been in here with me the whole damn day!", Daryl yelled at me.

We exchanged blows. I taught that kid too damn good, he got in a couple good hits. I don't remember River trying to get between us but she must have because the next thing I know they're both on the floor bloody. River is crying and Daryl's shirt is torn. I don't think I've ever seen that girl cry. I don't think I've ever seen Daryl with his shirt off. He's hunched over her and I see his back for the first time since we was kids. Five years living in close quarters and I'd never seen his fucking back.

I have a belt in my hand raised over my head ready to hit them both. Daryl tackles me to the floor and has one of River's knives to my throat. I taught him that move.

"I didn't know…I didn't know….I didn't know." I shook my head, babbling and weeping uncontrollably.

After a few very tense minutes River crawled over to us, she slowly took the knife from Daryl's shaking hands. Laid her head on my chest and hugged me around my middle. Daryl slid off of me and sat next to us breathing heavily and silently watching. Fell asleep staring at the ceiling and feeling like I broke something between us.

I woke up to the sun blazing down on me from the living room window. Found a bottle of water next to me and a rolled up blanket underneath my head. Even after what I'd done they still took care of me. My head was pounding and my mouth was dry as the desert. I staggered to my feet and felt my stomach lurch. I drank half the bottle of water then looked around for little brother and sister, found them behind me, huddled together sound asleep. They had changed their clothes from the bloody torn ones. River's right cheek was swollen and bruised. Daryl's right eye was swollen shut and his lip had tape over the torn cut. I got up quietly and went to the restroom to clean myself up.

Got a good look at myself in the mirror and realized that Daryl did more damage than I thought. Had a black eye and what felt like some bruised ribs. As I rinsed myself off I tried to think of what to say to them. I never once thought that pop would hurt Daryl or River like he did me. It sickened me to the point I almost threw up what little was in my stomach. They weren't fuck ups like me. They didn't deserve that.

Now I just had to fix this. Sure Daryl and I had fought each other over the years but nothing like what happened yesterday. I grabbed what was left of my rather large stash of drugs and held it over the toilet. Gripping the bag tighter, "Fuck this...", I mumbled through clenched teeth and emptied the bags. Going cold turkey was gonna fucking suck but it'd be worth it in the end to not have them look at me like they did yesterday.

I silently walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch, staring at my brother and sister, thinking about what I'd say to them. River woke first, feeling the weight of my stare. Daryl followed when he felt River shifting and stretching.

"Hey girl", I whispered. "I flushed it. All of it." I rushed out before they could even sit up all the way.

She looked down at the floor, bit her lower lip and nodded. Daryl sat up, his thumb immediately going to his teeth, "Hmph", he grunted.

"I'm sorry", I said looking both of them in the eye, "Can't promise I won't get mad or be an asshole to y'all but I promise I won't ever hit ya again."

As I slowly get to my feet as they get to theirs. I walked over to them and brought my hands to the back of their necks to lean our heads together. We breathed each other in slowly.

"We're good Merle." Daryl tells me and I hear River hum next to us in agreement. The rest of the winter went by uneventfully after that day. At least until a damn tree fell on our cabin.

 _I don't own The Walking Dead! Just play with the characters when they let me!_


	3. The Tree

Chapter. 3

The Tree

 _Daryl POV_

Winter lasted longer than we thought it would, tougher too. There was no game to hunt, anything worth hunting had gone to ground to either hibernate or stay away from the freaks. We were stuck with canned food and went on runs into nearby towns. We lucked out on one of those runs, found a little mom and pop shop with an apartment in the back. They were both near untouched, found some medical supplies, soap, hell they even had some clothes, we took everything.

It seems the lady of the house liked to can. There was a gold mine in the pantry, canned meat and vegetables of all kind. We were set for the rest of winter if we were smart.

River had us worried though. She was small to begin with but since November set in she seemed to almost waste away in front of us. She took care of us, kept the cabin like a home and made sure we always had clean clothes, but as far as taking care of herself, that seemed to take a back seat for her.

One night I finally hit my breaking point. She had spent all day organizing the food storage room that Merle and I had added shelving to. Cleaned all our clothes. After that she made us dinner. Not once taking a break or eating a damn thing.

"River sit your ass back down and eat somethin' or I'll force feed ya!", I threatened.

She plopped down on her chair and Merle smirked at her from across the table. "Your scrawny ass ain't gonna be no use to anyone if you don't calm down and take care of your damn self. You got us worried little sister."

Looking thoroughly chastised she finished her meal without further fuss.

After a few days of similar treatment from both Merle and me she finally got the point that we weren't going to let her get away with acting like that. Turns out she was rationing herself to make the food we had last longer. She started looking healthier after we found all the canned food.

The warmer weather let us know that spring was on its way, and with that came the critters. We were all feeling restless after spending months inside so it was decided that we would all go for a hunt. Figured it would do us all some good to get out for a while. After walking about a mile into the woods it seemed like we were all breathing a little easier. No matter where we were, the outdoors always felt like home.

I found some rabbit tracks about fifteen minutes into our trek. We followed it for another fifteen when River started acting twitchy. Kept twirling her knives, scanning the ground, and moving the leaves around on the floor.

"What's gettin' in to you?", Merle whispered.

She nodded her head towards something on a tree a few feet from us. When we saw it, Merle and I both tensed up. Scratches on the tree, about 7 feet off the ground floor, fresh markings too. We knew right away what it was. A bear would keep us good and fed for a while. As a unit we put our backs to one another, weapons up, and scanned the wooded area around us. I spotted the fur first about 50 yards away, tapping both arms on either side of me I let them know I had the threat in my sights. It saw us right as I was aiming and started to charge.

"Got it." I grunted.

I took the shot but missed the kill zone and managed to make the thing madder. It reared up on its hind legs, it let out a growl that seemed to shake the surrounding forest, with long clawed paws high in the air ready to swipe us down.

Merle shoved River and I out of the way, aimed his rifle, and shot it right between the eyes...it fell just a few feet from us.

Merle turned his head slowly to us where we lay in heap on the ground.

"Didya get it?", he smirked. River giggled into my shoulder. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the question and jumped to my feet. "Well at least we got enough meat to last for a while." I commented changing the subject quickly.

It took most of the day but we were able to skin it, gut it, and quarter the meat from our kill. All while having to keep a lookout for anything that might have heard the gunshot. We all had our packs full with our meal for many nights to come and with a smirk on Merle's face he asked River to sing for us.

She tilted her head in question with a look of amusement on her face waiting for the song request. I cut Merle off with my own. "Blue Bayou", I spoke.

She rewarded me with a big toothy grin and started to sing softly, mindful of the fact that we were still out in the open.

 _"I feel so bad I got a worried mind_

 _I'm so lonesome all the time_

 _Since I left my baby behind_

 _On Blue Bayou"_

It was refreshing to hear her voice again. Sometimes even I forget how she sounds.

 _"Saving nickels, saving dimes_

 _Working 'till the sun don't shine_

 _Looking forward to happier times_

 _On Blue Bayou"_

Merle starts whistling along to the song.

 _"I'm going back someday_

 _Come what may_

 _To Blue Bayou_

 _Where the folks are fine and the world is mine_

 _On Blue Bayou_

 _Where those..."_

With her abrupt stop in the song Merle and I look forward to see what made her stop. It was our cabin. With a damn tree caving in the roof.


	4. Moving On

Chapter 4

Moving On

Seeing the destruction of their home brought them all up short. The look on River's face matched what they were all feeling. Utter devastation. They thought they had found a home. They're first real one ever. It was a blow that none of them had expected. They had made preparations for people or those freaks trying to run them out, but not this.

"What the hell?", Merle all but shouted. "I didn't hear no fucking storm! No wind! What the HELL!"

Daryl shook his head in disbelief at the situation while River clinched her fists around the straps of her backpack and looked at the ground while Merle continued to swear at the world.

Merle looked up at the sky and yelled, "Really?! You didn't think that what we've gone through was enough! Now you gotta drop a damn tree on our house!"

They moved quietly up the front steps of the cabin. Merle taking up the lead, River in the middle and Daryl taking up the rear. The living room was in shambles, it looked as if nothing was salvageable. From there River wandered into the kitchen while her brothers checked the bedrooms. Plates and cups were shattered everywhere, the dining room table where they sate and had their meals was broken down the middle. Looking at the kitchen had her remembering all the meals she had made for her and her brothers. Kicking them out of the house so she could finish the food before they could pick it all clean.

Daryl walked into the bedroom where they kept the weapons. It looked like a couple of the guns had fired off when falling from the shelves to the ground. Bullet holes scattered the walls. Daryl was thankful they had been in the woods all day, one of them might have been shot by a stray. Merle's rifles were miraculously still leaning against the wall though. He remembered him setting up cans for target practice so they could all get used to using different weapons. River had taken forever to learn to set up the scope.

Merle walked into the bedroom with the food and bedding supplies. Most of the bedding was ruined, the glass jars having fallen from the shelves. He removed his pack and started picking up the glass shards closest to him. Trying to see what was worth saving. He remembered Daryl and him nailing the hand made shelves to the walls so River could organize everything easier. She was so happy when everything was finally put away she smiled so bright and actually bounced up and down like a little girl.

River and Daryl wandered into the room where Merle was still crouched on the floor. Daryl asked the obvious question, "What do we do now? We rebuilding?"

"Nah little brother. Aint got the material or the time to be rebuilding right now. When we was at the base I heard about a bunch of refugee camps being set up. One of them was in Atlanta, that disease control place is set up there too. If there's a chance of getting rid of these things, it'll be there." Merle said while still cleaning up.

River shook her head in the negative to this. Leaving this place was something she didn't think would ever be happening. She didn't want to. Every place they had ever stayed at was nothing compared to this. They were able to be an actual family there. Her twins arms were the first place she had felt safe, the base was a chance for them both to relax, but here...here they were able to be the family they were meant to be. It wasn't fair.

Merle looked up as River stood and stomped away from the room. Daryl closed his eyes, sighed, and hung his head as Merle got up and followed her. Daryl trailed after them a moment later and found Merle hugging River close and whispering into her hair as River's body shook with sobs. He didn't know what Merle told her but it calmed her down and after a moment she lifted her head from Merle's chest, looked into Merle's eyes and nodded her head. Daryl walked up to them quietly, not wanting to disturb them but needing to make sure River was ok.

As he got closer to them Merle reached out and grabbed him by the back of the neck and drew him closer.

Merle whispered fiercely, "We're gonna be ok. We don't need anything but each other. This place was good, we'll have it again. But we can't stay here. We'll take the rest of the day to get our stuff sorted and packed up in the truck, we'll sleep in the truck bed in shifts and take off in the morning." Merle held his sibling close and allowed himself a moment of respite before letting them go and moving to get started.

Daryl held River a little longer and asked, "You ok?" She looked up at him through her hair and raised an eyebrow, her eyes and cheeks were wet and red from crying. He snorted a quiet chuckle, "Yeah, sorry. We gotta get a move on though." He kissed her forehead before walking away to start on the weapons room again.

She allowed herself one more moment of despair before setting her shoulders straight, lifting her chin, and walked quickly to her kitchen to get started with packing up.

 _Authors Note: Sorry for the short chapter and as always none of the characters belong to me._


	5. Traffic

Chap. 5

Traffic

It took two days for them to finally see the signs of other living people. Cars with families stranded on the side of the road, long run out of gas. It was only because of Merle they had any gas left themselves. One of the many items they had stalked up on before taking off from the base.

"Stupid people ain't got enough sense to start walking on foot. They're just asking to be dinner for those freaks." As if just waiting to be mentioned they came from the woods. Doesn't take but a few of those things to do exactly what Merle had predicted. Daryl and River turned their heads to each other as Merle stared straight ahead with a white knuckle grip on the steering wheel; they heard screams and gunshots as they drove further down the long stretch of highway.

A day later they found themselves stopping just inside the city from the amount of abandoned vehicles coming into Atlanta. River leaned forward turning the radio on.

"This is the emergency broadcasting system. Please head to your nearest designated safe zone. This is not a drill. We have emergency care units, food, and shelter. Contact your local officials for any information " and it just went on a loop over and over. Daryl tuned it off after about the third loop.

"What the hell?", Merle whispered as he slowly stepped out of the truck. River and Daryl got out from the other side surveying the destruction around them. Cars were overturned, smoke from fires long since burnt out, and debris scattered everywhere. A city that once held over four hundred thousand people was now a ghost town. "Grab your weapons and stick close. We're gonna look around for a bit. If we don't see nothing we'll leave and head back to Fort Gordon. Regroup and figure out what to do then."

"You think that's a good idea? Heading to Fort Gordon? Last time we was there it was fixin' to be over run too." Daryl mumbled, as he and River grabbed their packs, weapons were already strapped to their persons and in hand.

Merle sighed and stared at his brother sideways, "You got a better idea?" His frustration of the situation coming out easily and lashing out at the closest target. River stepped between the two of them before the argument could go anywhere and pointed to the opposite end of the street. "Fuck me..." Merle groaned.

It was a herd of freaks like they had never seen. Coming right at them. How they had manage to not see it beforehand they didn't know and weren't about to stand around and analyze it. They jumped in the truck and gunned it down a side street. They quickly found out that getting out of the city the same way they came in wasn't an option. Freaks were coming from everywhere, being drawn by the sound of the truck.

"We're gonna have to hoof it!", Daryl screamed over the sound of the engine and the groans of the dead getting closer. "No shit baby brother!" Merle grunted back. They grabbed what they could before jumping out of the truck and running down the nearest street that didn't have the dead running after them. "River! Keep up!" Merle yelled, when he realized she wasn't next to them, they stopped dead in their tracks when they realized a turn they made lead them to a fenced dead end...and realized River wasn't anywhere in sight.

"River!" Daryl screamed in a panic, "River!" He ran back to the street only to be cut off once again by the groaning undead coming towards them. Merle grabbed Daryl by his shoulder, yanking him back towards the fence. "Come one, we'll climb over and circle back. She can't have gone too far." Pushing Daryl to climb first, Merle stayed on the ground and began shooting and yelling. Giving Daryl a chance to climb over the fence. Once Daryl was over Merle started to climb as Daryl shot at the oversized herd to cover his brother. Swearing the entire time at River for falling behind, at himself for not keeping a better eye on her, and at Merle for acting so fucking calm.

 _Meanwhile River_

The pain in my side was getting worse, nights of little to sleep and having to cut our meals in half had begun to take their toll on me. It was getting harder to draw air into my lungs. But I couldn't think about that as I hear the groaning at my back and see my brothers getting further and further in front of me. I grunt in frustration as I realize I won't be able to keep up with them at this pace. Looking around for any alternative I see a freaking tank in the middle of the street to my left.

Sighing in frustration at my inability to make myself talk, grunt, make some freakin noise, I start to ready myself for the shit storm my brothers are sure to rain down on me when we meet up again. I turn to my left and run as quickly as I can and start to climb the behemoth when I hear Daryl start to scream my name. I feel like shit. We've never been separated. Ever. And more than anythin I hate scaring him. I lift the hatch and jump in, and then bump into someone else.

 _Merle & Daryl_

It didn't take long for them to circle back around. What they saw had them both praying to a God they didn't think they believed in anymore. A group of the dead surrounding a small area. No sounds but growling and eating. "It's not her. I know it. It's not her." Daryl mumbled over and over shaking his head back and forth. Above them they heard the clanging of a ladder being lowered and hurried feet climbing down.

"Umph", a short asian kid with a baseball hat and a backpack ran straight into Merle's back. Daryl wasn't paying much attention to anything at the moment except for the horrifying sight in front of them. Merle on the other hand did what he did best. Get angry. Merle grabbed the kid by the front of his shirt, got him up close and personal with his beretta billennium, and proceeded to scare the everloving crap out of him.

Merle grit his teeth and spoke in a slow low tone, "You picked the wrong alley at the wrong time kid. You wanna live and not be dead bait then you're gonna do exactly what I say and I won't make your head into a canoe."

Seemed like the kid could only nod his head in agreement like a bobble head while clutching at Merle's big meaty hand that was simultaneously choking the life out of him and holding him up. "What's your name short round?", Merle asked almost conversationally. "Gl-Glenn" the asian kid stuttered.

"Well Glenn you're going to go and get a real nice good look at what all those dead things are crawling around and then you're going to run back to me and let me know exactly what it is. Got it?" he continued.

"It's a horse." Glenn whispered almost unintelligibly.

"What'd you say?" Daryl questioned while getting in Glenn's face. "How'd ya know? Did'ya see it yerself?"

Glenn started sweating, and it wasn't from the heat of the Georgia sun. "Yeah I saw it. It's a horse. I saw the rider, some cop, jump in the tank over there. And then about a minute later a girl jumped in."

Channeling his inner Merle, a big slow toothy smile spread across Daryl's face, "Looks like you just saved your ass from being bait then little chinaman."

 _River POV_

"What the hell? Who are you?" the man in the cop uniform asked her. Growing up the way I did I would have known he was a cop even without the uniform. "Hey, you ok?" he asked me. I was still breathing heavy from the run and the adrenaline. I found it hard to even nod my head at him, the instinct to never talk to cops, rearing it's ugly head. So instead I did what I was taught to do by my brothers, I observed. It's easy to ignore the mute in the room so more often than not it was my job to watch and listen.

I noticed he had a gun holster but no gun in sight, still doesn't mean he didn't have one. He had his hands up for me to see in the universal sign of "I mean you no harm", years of trusting no one but my brothers had me weary of that gesture too. He was clean but had a bit of scruff for a beard, he was older than me but not by too much. The tank was small and I didn't have room to move if he tried something but I wasn't too worried about that seeing as how I had my knives on me.

"Hey, you don't have to say anything but your not looking too good." I realized that the entire time I was observing him, he was doing the same to me and I must have been more worn out than I thought. I still hadn't been able to catch my breath and was starting to feel light headed. Not taking my eyes off of officer friendly, I leaned a little more heavily into the side of the tank wishing I could go for the water bottle on the side of my pack.

"Are you by yourself?" he asked me. Once again I just stared at him while trying to even my breathing out. "Do you understand anything I'm saying to you right now?" sounding concerned and slightly frustrated. I took a minute to contemplate whether or not to trust this guy. I didn't like the situation I was in and I didn't want to take the chance that he might start getting upset with my lack of answers so I nodded my head once. Slowly. He closed his eyes for a second in what seemed to be relief and then slightly relaxed.

"My name is Rick Grimes. I spoke to someone out there and they said they'd help get me outta here. Now I don't wanna leave you alone in here and I know you don't know me but I need you to come with me. I can't in good conscious just leave you here with those things crawling around out there." I weighed my options for a moment and decided he was right I didn't know him. But he was probably my best chance of getting outta here. That thought was quickly followed by my inner-Merle, "You can always use Officer Friendly here as a distraction while ya run your ass back to us where you belong baby sista."

I sighed heavily and nodded my head once again. Not entirely sure if I was doing the right thing but I needed to get back to my brothers. The sooner the better. "Good. What's your name?" I looked him in the eyes through my curtain of hair that had fallen in my face. I didn't bother trying to hide my amusement at the question. I shook my head back and forth a couple of times, if I hadn't answered any of his other questions what makes him think I'll answer him now. I wouldn't be giving that piece of information out even if I could. But of course as soon as I did this we both heard gunshots and shouts outside of the tank. Rick unlocked the hatch as soon as he realized those freaks had been drawn away by the noise.

Just as he went to open the hatch it was yanked open a head popped down down in front of us.

 _Authors Note: I don't own any of the recognizable characters or The Walking Dead. I also stole a line from one of my favorite movies. Can you guess? I'll give you a hint: It's a western and based on a real person :)_

 _Any thoughts on where you would like this story to go now?_


	6. Never Again

**Chap. 6**

 **Never Again**

 _Glenn POV_

Glenn had never been more scared in his entire life. And that included waking up to his roommate trying to eat his face off. He was currently shooting a gun that despite the brief instructions from the Dixon brothers, "This end is where the bullet goes out of. Pull this to shoot. Don't shoot yourself, the safety's off.", Glenn still worried he might shoot himself. To top that off he was running away from a mob of loud, smelly, hungry geeks that saw him as their favorite Korean happy meal. What started out as Glenn wanting to help an idiot who didn't know when to keep his gun holstered and add to the big karmic piggy bank in the sky has brought him to this point. Being threatened by two big rednecks, having a gun shoved in his face, and nearly being choked to death, this will be the last time he tries to help someone with no common sense.

The bigger redneck, 'introduced' himself as Merle, and told Glenn that he would be creating a distraction with the younger brother, Daryl. Was he consulted on this plan? NO! They talked over him, literally. He stood between the two brothers as they hashed out a plan of distract and rescue for the girl that was in the tank. It seemed solid, until they started to talk about his part in the plan. He tried reasoning with the brothers, very briefly, he didn't want the gun in his face again. He knew bringing the group with him on this run was a bad idea.

 _Merle POV_

I waited until the herd thinned out before taking off to the tank. I had a mantra goin' on in my head the entire time. Cursing River for not talkin', Daryl for not listenin', and myself for not payin' closer attention. As soon as I get my hands on that girl I'm never letting her outta my sight again! When my feet touched the roof I heard the click of the lock, yanked the door open and popped my head into the hatch. I saw little sister and then the cop trying to shield her from me. Wrong move asshole. But before I could threaten him , River shoved him aside with a tiny grunt and grabbed me around my neck. I held her under her arms and pulled her up with little to no effort. She didn't let up on her hold, "You are never allowed outta my sight again little sister, you hear me! Never Again! You talk next time dammit. You gotta talk to us." I whispered fiercely into her hair. The only thing keeping me from biting her head off for scaring the shit outta me and Daryl was the fact that she was still clinging to me. I think she knows it too. I saw the cop climb out a second later with a gun aimed at me. I tapped little sister on the rib cage while leveling my own weapon right back at him, she got the message loud and clear, she slid behind me and went for one of her knives but kept a hold of the back of my shirt with her free hand. Letting me know she was right there.

"Ain't got time for this shit. Those things aren't all gone. We'll be going on our way and you can meet up with your little Chinese buddy down that street right there.", I said pointing to the building that was opposite to us. I was on a hair trigger from blowing my shit. Months of it being just me, baby brother and sister had me wary of anyone that wasn't a Dixon, especially a cop.

"Now hold on a minute, my name is Rick, and we don't know each other but I think it'd be best if we stick together. There's safety in numbers and you seem to be able to handle yourself." While the cop was droning on I noticed movement from behind Officer friendly and recognized Daryl and the chinaman. Meaning our little talk was over and we needed to get the hell outta here. But before I could even move, River let me go and was jumping off the damn tank and running straight for her twin. "Mother Fucker" I grunted as I chased after her, realizing the freaks were no longer distracted and headed towards us. Again.

 _Daryl POV_

The plan was simple. The asian kid and I create a distraction while Merle grabs River. We swing around the same alleyway that Merle and I realized the River was missing, asian kid and cop run off into the sun set and then we high tail it the hell outta this fucked up city. Sounds simple, woulda been simple too if this kid could shoot and run at the same time. I was running behind Glenn and saw him trip over what seemed to be thin air, while still keeping my same pace I picked him up and pushed him in front of me again. We were able to make it over the fence and around the side of the building without any more falls. Once we got to the street I noticed the cop and Merle talking to each other but what had my focus was River clinging to Merle's back. Before I realized what I was doing I started running towards them, River met me halfway. She's tiny but that girl nearly knocked me off my feet when we barreled into each other.

We held each other to the point I figured we were gonna start breaking bones. "Yer never leavin' us again. Never again. Next time ya say something, ya can't keep doin' this. Ya gotta talk to me.", before I could get another word out I saw Merle and the cop running towards us. I picked River up and ran back to the alley where the asian kid was already climbing up the ladder, yelling at us to hurry up. Guess those freaks gave up on tryin' to walk through the fence to get to us.

Instead of runnin' back towards the truck like we said we were gonna, Merle steared us to the ladder to follow Glenn. I hated to let her go, but I put River back on her feet and pushed her to go first. I wasn't lettin her outta my sight anytime soon. "Those things are starting climb up after us!", the cop yelled from the bottom. Glenn did some fast thinkin' and got us into the building through a side door. When we were all inside and the door locked behind us, all hell broke loose.

 _Merle_

The second the cop locked the door behind him and I was sure there was nothin' in the room and no way those freaks were gettin' in I finally lost the tight grip I had on my temper. River was tryin' to catch her breath while leaning against the wall that was opposite me. I lost my fucking calm. I ran up to her, grabbed her by her upper arms hard enough that I knew I might leave bruises, shook the shit outta her and started yelling like I hadn't done since that day in the cabin.

"What the FUCK were you thinkin' girl, huh?! You never leave us you hear me?! I know you can fuckin talk! You gotta talk!" I could feel Daryl yankin' on the back of my shirt, trying to get me off of her but I pushed him off of me and shoved him into the wall next to our sister. They both had to know that this shit was over. "And you! Always makin' excuses for her. Like this is ok, it's not! It's the fucking apocalypse! The dead are walkin' and tryin to eat us, she can't act like this no more and you can't be enablin' her. You want this to happen again?! You wanna lose the only family we got left!?" I yelled in Daryl's face, keeping him against the wall by the front of his shirt. They were both red in the face, River looked like she was ready to start cryin' any second, Daryl held my hand in both of his but made no move to try and fight me. His head bent forward, he knew he fucked up.

"You wanna lay off of them. Right now." I felt a gun barrel touching my right temple. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw a blonde woman, her hands shaking but her eyes were all business. To her left officer friendly had his weapon out too. I slowly let both of my siblings go, Daryl situating himself in front of River, not blocking her from me but from the cop and the ditz with the gun. "Well suga tits this ain't none o' your business. This is a family thang and you ain't family so …" before I can finish my sentence River is behind the ditz and has a knife to her throat. While I was keeping everyone focused on me River snuck behind the cop, short round, Daryl and me and slid right up on the blonde. That's my girl.

From down the hall I heard, "Hey, what's taking so long?" shortly followed by a small group of people who all tensed and stopped just inside the room at the scene before them. Yep. I should have grabbed the kids and ran to the truck when I had the chance.

 _Authors Note: I don't own The Walking Dead but I love to play with the characters. Sorry for the late update. Let me know in the comments how you would like the story to progress. You will notice that I blatantly dislike certain characters, have luke-warm feelings for others, and absolutely adore others and will only be swayed by comments from my readers. But you gotta make a really good argument._

 _Chapter 7 Beggars can't be Choosers_

 ** _"You really think you have any shot at survivin' out there without our help?"_**

 ** _Merle chuckled low and got a disturbing smirk on his face at that ridiculous question. Ain't no way this was gonna end good for him and I wasn't about to step in after what he just said about me and mine. Hell I think we just might help Merle teach this fool a lesson in mindin his own business._**


	7. Beggers Can't Be Choosers

_Sorry about the long wait! I absolutely love this story and I will not be giving up on it. I will try and stay consistent with the updates._

 **Chap. 7**

 **Beggars Can't be Choosers**

There was a tense silence for a few moments. The small group at the door was staring at River with a blade to the throat of one of their own and yet they were not sure what to do about it; whereas the Dixon's could communicate with a gesture or a look alone. It was pretty clear that while the group was close they were all extremely untrained. It became apparent to the cop that he would have to defuse the situation before it got any further out of hand. All though it seemed like River wouldn't actually hurt the blonde he didn't wanna push his luck.

"Alright, let's all calm down." Rick stated while slowly putting his own gun away. He figured it'd be best to lead by example. "Merle you had your say, your not gonna hurt 'em. So let's all put our weapons down." referring to Merle's meltdown and subsequent manhandling of his siblings. River looked to Merle from over the shoulder of the blonde, she might have been smaller but she was ready to slit this lady's throat if she even twitched.

"I was helping you. He was hurting you. You don't let people do that to you, no matter who they are to you." the ditz stated as she continued to aim her gun at Merle. Her words falling on deaf ears to the girl behind her. The only response River gave was to tighten her grip on the blonde.

"Andrea put the gun down. We don't need this right now. Those things are all over the building and I don't feel like being geek bait again." Glenn tried to reason. "They're climbing up the building and this run was a waste of time. I knew I should've come alone. Every time before this, alone, and it went smooth. You all wanna come with, fine, I don't argue but I KNEW this was a bad idea from the beginning."

Merle nodded his head once, River lowered her knife and slowly released Andrea from the grip she had on her. With a small shove and a very apparent scowl on her face she stepped back over to her brothers.

After a few beats of heavy silence an agreement seemed to take place. All weapons were lowered with an air of reluctance. Groaning could begin to be heard from outside the door as the group made their way down the stairs. A hoard of the dead could be seen banging on the front doors straining to get in. "What do we do Merle?" asked Daryl as he grabbed River's shoulders keeping her between him and Merle.

"These stores have back areas for loadin' and unloadin' right? We'll try there." They took only a few steps to the back of the store when they realized the entire group was following them, "Where the hell ya'll goin? Ya'll ain't followin' us! Cop gettin' locked up in a damn tank with no way out, Asian kid ain't got no self preservation, and blonde muff eater here don't know when to leave well enough alone! I ain't having you all anywhere near me and mine." River looked at her twin in wonder, it was the most she had ever heard Daryl say in one sitting.

"Look we obviously need you more than you need us, but I got a family I'm lookin for. You're talking about you and your family, well I know mine is out there somewhere and I need to get out of here to get on with findin them. And anything that get's in the way of that is gonna get dead. So I'm asking for your help." that little speech got to River and with a nudge and a look from her, it got to Daryl too. Merle set his face with a look of annoyance and with a huff said, " Keep up. You lag behind we ain't comin back for you."

"Yeah, you will. Daryl ran back for me when we were being chased by walkers." Glenn piped up as they all began to walk to the back of the store once again. "You was in my way, that's all." Daryl mumbled back, the tips of his ears suspiciously turning red. River was pleased that someone else recognized what a good person her twin was. She nudged her shoulder with his and held his hand for a moment before letting go and running up ahead with Merle.

Merle was right about the loading area, there were two huge bay doors for trucks to load and unload shipments and a side door for personnel to enter and exit from. Boxes full of merchandise were scattered everywhere and after a quick sweep by Merle, Daryl, and Rick they found only a few rotting undead that had been killed already, again. There was no real discussion at this point, the Dixons figured if this group of idiots was gonna follow them, then they were gonna put them to work. Merle had the beaner (or Morales as he attempted to correct them a few times), the black guy (or T-Dog, Merle had a field day with that one, he wasn't necessarily a racist but damn did Merle's dad's words come out of his mouth with that one), and sugar tits (or Andrea, she had resorted to flipping Merle off every time he referred to her as such) check out the side personnel doors for any freaks that might be around.

Andrea spotted a few stragglers inside the gate but the moaning and hissing drew her attention to the herd at the outside of the gates around the side of the building. They seemed to gather in one spot and push against the gate trying to get to them. Morales noticed the delivery truck and a small red two seater sports car behind the hoard of walkers and visibly deflated with defeat, "Well there goes our way out. What are we supposed to do now?"

"We'll figure something out, remember we got Mr. White Trash, Mr. Redneck and Helen Keller in there. Why the fuck are we followin' them anyway?!" T-Dog groaned.

"I didn't hear you saying anything in there. Funny how as soon as we're out earshot from them, you're quick with the insults." Morales reminded him, "I got a family to get back to. And if they're my best shot, then I'm gonna do what I have to, to make sure I get back to my wife so she can chew my ass out for following you."

"Enough with the gripping. Let's just get back inside" T-Dog mumbled, he really didn't want to get into this discussion. He new he messed up, only came along because everyone else volunteered and he didn't wanna seem like a coward. He practically begged Morales to come with them.

The second they stepped back into the warehouse they heard Glenn arguing with the Dixons. And from the sounds of it, Glenn was losing. "Why do I have to go? This was your idea!" With a quick glare from Merle he realized that technically it was Jackie and River's idea.

As soon as the door had closed behind Andrea, Jacki mentioned how the walkers found them on this run without any of them having made a sound. River had quickly whispered her first word since she was ten. "Smell". After the shock had worn off the Dixons quickly got to work on trying to find a way to mask their scent.

The rest of the group was huddled around the Dixons. River and Daryl were visible but Merle was nowhere to be seen. And awful smell was coming from their general vicinity, and as Andrea, Morales, and T-Dog got closer, the smell got worse. "You're going because you're faster and know your way around here better than the rest of the walker bait here and because I said so." Merle's voice came from the ground.

"What the hell's going on?"

"Found a way to get outta here. What'd y'all see out there?" Rick asked. "Nothing good. A bunch of walkers, a chain linked gate between us and a sports car and a truck that can carry all of us. We might as well try and find another way outta here." Andrea answered.

The Dixons and Glenn completely ignored everyone and continued butchering the walker at their feet. As much as he wasn't looking forward to doing this it seemed like the smartest move. "Y'all do what y'all want. We're doin' this" Merle muttered. After a moment Rick joined the Dixons and began smearing the blood and intestines on one of the trench coats they found in one of the boxes of merchandise. River stood from Daryl's side and started to help Rick. Her petite nose wrinkling from the smell.

Huffing in frustration and lack of options, T-Dog and Morales helped Glenn slather walker guts on his coat. Merle had Daryl help him with his coat and with everyone finally working together Rick went over the plan once more. "I will walk around to the gate, use the bolt cutters we found, cut the chains on the gate, Merle will go with the Glenn, hotwire the car then Glenn will drive and cause a distraction that will lead the walkers away, Merle will meet up with me at the truck and we'll come and pick up everyone else."

"You guys came up with that in the five minutes that we were gone?" Morales questioned.

"It was the general plan, but it all depended on what you all found out there" Jackie replied.

"Alright, enough foreplay. Let's do this." Merle said while walking to the door. "Y'all be ready or we're leaving without ya." River chuckled under her breath at her brother's statement. Knowing full well he meant exactly what he said.


	8. Meeting the Family

**Chap. 8**

 **Meeting the Family**

The passengers in the back of the truck felt the extreme rocking back and forth as they raced down the empty highway. They knew the walkers couldn't keep up and yet there was still a sense of urgency that made Rick continue to speed.

Merle shoved his head into the front part of the truck and said, "As soon as we get where we're going, we're taking this truck and heading back to the city."

"Why are we going back to the city?" asked Morales, "No, me and my family are going back to the city. We ain't stayin' with y'all." and with that he popped back into the back of the truck. Nothing was said after that. The distant blaring of the little red sports car could be heard.

The truck slowed down at the edge of a clearing. Merle put a hand on both of his siblings wrists to keep them back while everyone else stepped out of the back of the truck. He was contemplating on just leaving. He didn't care to have his family know these people and it felt ridiculous to stay any longer than necessary.

"Dad!" a young boy yelled from outside, "Carl!" they heard the sheriff's response. Out of curiosity, River pulled her brother's to see what the commotion was. They saw Officer Friendly on his knees hugging a young boy for all he was worth with tears in his eyes and a skinny woman with long brown hair who had her arms wrapped around both of them. She seemed to be laughing and crying at the same time with absolute disbelief etched across her face.

Merle noticed the reactions of the others around them. They were all watching the scene in front of them with smiles on their faces. Except for one. He was smiling alright, but anyone looking could tell it was fake. Strained. Guilty.

The Dixons looked at each other at this point, the twins having seen the same thing Merle had, he says in a grunted whisper, "We're not fucking staying."

As soon as they heard this the twins let out a tired sigh, they hadn't stopped going for almost an entire day. River whispered her second word that day, "Tired". Daryl followed up with, "Food." And just like that he knew they were staying. At least for one night.

Through all the chaos of the reunion the Dixon's seemed to blend in with the rest of the quarry group for the early evening. Merle went to the woods to try and see what he could hunt, Daryl took River to the water with the other ladies to wash the clothes. They could hear Rick splashing and laughing with Carl on the other side trying to catch frogs, when actually they were scaring away anything that could be taken for food.

Daryl was sitting on a large bolder switching his focus between his sister and the perimeter around them. He could hear the women whispering and noticed one of the men from the group he hadn't noticed until after they had settled in. He gave off a bad vibe that the Dixons recognized immediately. It was an unspoken decision to watch him and keep their distance. They never ran from a fight but this group and their problems were something that they didn't necessarily want to get involved with.

 **River**

Needing to keep busy while her oldest brother was hunting had her suggesting that she clean their few dirty clothes before going back for the truck. This group had seemed to have found an optimal spot for hunting and a good water source. She decided that before they left she would have a decent bath...and try and make her brothers have one as well. While in the middle of a particular pesky blood stain, she heard the women laughing about things they missed from before the turn. For herself, she knew that she wouldn't have anything to contribute to this particular conversation. Not that she would talk to them. Her brothers made it very clear, that while they wanted her to talk, they didn't want her to talk to anyone but them for the time being.

While it was slightly annoying it also made sense. It was during this time that she realized that the women had gone quiet. When she looked up she saw the fat one, the one that made her and her brothers cringe, try and throw his weight around with the women. While this group was nothing to brag about, she had to admit that she appreciated that they stuck together. As the fat one (Ed) grabbed, who she assumed was his wife or girlfriend, the other women gathered around and attempted to protect and defuse the situation. It didn't work.

She calmly stepped out of the water and walked in the middle of the confrontation. It got quiet really quickly. She knew she had only moments before her twin tried to stop her. The fat man became red in the face almost immediately and raised his hand in an _attempt_ to hit River. She had already taken her knife out from it's hiding place and almost lazily aimed it below the belt, "No more" was all she said. Fat man's eyes grew large as he realized where her hands were, he slowly started to back away when he felt a heat at his back that wasn't from the Georgia sun.

"There a problem?", Ed spun to face the voice behind him so fast he almost landed on his ass. He shakily shook his head and slowly backed away."Didn't think so." Daryl's eyes squinted and watched the fat slob scramble to get away from them. He did exactly as the twins thought he would, back down from someone bigger and stronger. Typical bully.

River looked at the group behind her and her twin, she shook her head and went back to their laundry and cleaning herself off. Rick and Carl had stopped 'catching frogs' and were heading towards the other women, she assumed to check out the situation. She thought that for a cop he really didn't seem to catch on too quickly.

By early evening Merle had returned to the camp with six squirrels and 3 large jack rabbits. Andrea and her sister had gone fishing in the lake after the laundry incident and caught several fish. They had plenty for the evening and leftovers for the following day.

"Are you sure you won't stay longer than tonight?" Rick asked Merle. "Nah, we're movin' on. We're better off on our own."

There was a cynical chuckle from the man sitting across from Rick. "Yeah, I can see that. What'd ya got here? The mute. The idiot. And you, the loud mouth. You really think ya have any shot at survivin' out there without our help?"

Daryl heard Merle chuckle low and got a disturbing smirk on his face at that ridiculous question. Ain't no way this was gonna end good for him and I wasn't about to step in after what he just said about me and mine. Hell I think we just might help Merle teach this fool a lesson in mindin' his own business.

Ever the peacekeeper, Rick tried to stop the situation from becoming a situation. "Shane man, what's your problem? You've been off all day. I just got back and you're startin a fight with the people who helped get me back to my family. What the hell man?"

With that Shane shook his head and stomped back to his truck mumbling under his breath, "...fuckin rednecks". With his departure Meryl finally spoke up, "That's why we ain't stayin. It's the end of the fuckin' world and you got this dumbass making ASSumptions and mouthing off. He don't know who me or mine are or what we're capable of." With that said, the Dixon't stood and headed to the truck to finish their food at the truck on the other side of the camp. As they walked away, they heard Rick try to convince the others in the group that he thought they needed them. River thought it was kind of nice of him to do that.

In a tent on the outskirts of the camp a small girl was huddled in the corner with her hands over her ears. The action was more of a comfort but didn't necessarily work to muffle the cries as her dad her dad threatened and hurt her momma. She looked up from her corner to see her dad grabbing momma by her upper arms, squeezing so hard the area around his hands were turning red and white from the pressure.

"You embarrassed me out there you little bitch! When I tell you to do something you do it. I don't wanna hear you and I don't wanna see you outside of this tent unless I say so. You hear me!" He didn't yell, he didn't have to. He let her go so fast that her momma fell to the ground hard hitting her elbow on the corner of one of the cots. Momma knew better than to say anything at this point and just kept nodding her head. "That little bitch is lucky her brother was there. Snuck up behind me like a snake. Don't make no difference, you're mine. I can do whatever I want to and you know it." Momma stayed on the floor and nodded her head while looking at the ground.

"Go get me my dinner. Sophia's gonna stay with me, aren't you darling." It wasn't a question. I started shaking so bad. Everything got so blurry all of a sudden, I didn't even realize I was crying. I didn't like how dad looked at me. Momma always made sure not to leave us alone. I saw momma nod her head again and slowly get up from the floor, she made her way to the front of the tent by me and all I could think was one word, 'nonononono'. She paused right by and moved so fast I didn't realize what had happened until we were outside, halfway to the delivery truck that where the new people were sitting around.

Momma had grabbed me as she was leaving. She didn't leave me. Momma didn't leave me. I heard her whispering, "Don't stop running", I didn't know if she was talking to me or herself but I kept running with her. When we finally made it the pretty lady and her brothers I was out of breath from the run and realized I was still shaking. All three stood as we got closer, the older man took me by the arm and pulled us behind them. I figured daddy chased after us from the tent but when I finally got a look I realized that daddy didn't make it all that far. He was on the ground. Being eaten by those monsters.

I wasn't all that sad either.


End file.
